Club raises money, fights cancer

Posted: Monday, November 10, 2003

By Mike D'Avriamike.davria@onlineathens.com

A yellow 1955 Ford Club Sedan draws some attention from passers-by at the cruise-in hosted by the Street Masters Car Club of Athens at The Varsity on Sunday. This week's show was held to raise money for Mack Evans, a charter member of the club who is battling cancer.

The Street Masters Car Club of Athens hosted a car show cruise-in at The Varsity this past weekend, as it has done most weekends between April and November since the club was founded in 1985. The difference was that the final show of the year on Sunday was a benefit for Mack Evans, one of the club's charter members.

Evans has been diagnosed with cancer, and the club hosted the event to raise money for his battle with the disease. According to the club's one-time president Mark Crawford, the club is not just an organization, but a family, and a family that will do anything to help one of theirmembers.

''The guy has a heart the size of this parking lot. Everybody who meets him absolutely loves him. ... If you were broke down on the side of the road, and he could fix your car, he would stay and fix it no matter if he knew you or not,'' Crawford said.

Evans, who owns a 1941 Chevrolet, has been a member of the club since its inception, and, according to Crawford, is one of the reasons the club still exists today.

''He got us all into this stuff. He is the reason that we are still in the car club and fooling around with cars,'' Crawford said.

According to Stephanie King, the club's secretary, Street Masters has held cruises to benefit many different causes, but this particular one was special because it benefited Evans.

''He's always there with an open hand, an open door and an open heart,'' King said.

King said the members do not have to own a car, let alone a classic street rod or muscle car, to join the organization. At Sunday's event, there were around 200 cars on display to the public. According to Street Masters President Tommy Landrum, even kids with newer cars are welcome at the events because they are the future of car shows.

Classic cars parked at The Varsity are reflected in the back of a rear view mirror at the cruise-in.

R.C. Rique/Staff

''If we don't get the kids involved then we're a dying breed. Get them off the street, and get them off the drugs. If they get involved in this they don't have the time or the money to get involved in drugs,'' Landrum said.

Not only do businesses donate money to the organization, but the club also held a silent auction with the money going toward Evans' treatment. Some of the items on Sunday up for bid was a car hood signed by Dale Earnhardt Jr., and a football signed by University of Georgia football coach Mark Richt that went for $500.

The group meets the last Wednesday of every month at Logan's Roadhouse. Anyone can join, but King stresses that one must want to join their family as well as their club. Crawford agreed, and added the benefit is so important because Evans is like a close family member to everyone.

''You can't say enough about Mack. If you were 1,000 miles away and needed help, he would drop everything he was doing and come help,'' Crawford said. ''And that's just one reason that everybody loves him so much, not just our club, but everyone who meets him because he is great to everybody.''

A pair of fuzzy dice hangs in the window of a 1957 Chevy Bel-Air at the cruise-in on Sunday.